Sedimentation



2 sheets-sheet V1 J. v. N. DoRR ETAL SEDIMENTATION original' Filed June a, 1935 Nov. 18, 1941.

Nw. 1s, 1941. 1v. N. BORR Em 2,263,167

SE'DIMENTATION Original Filed June 8, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 18, 11941 sEmMEN'rATIoN John V. N. Dorr, "William C. Weber, George M.

Darby, and Elliott J. Roberts, Westport, Conn.,

assignors to The Dorr Company, Inc.,

New

v York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware original application June s, 1935, serial No.

1939, Serial No. 286,022

(Cl. 21o-55) 9 Claims.

This patent covers material carved out o1'y divided from our main patent application, Serial No. 25,584, filed June 8, 1935 that matured on January 2, 1940 into Patent No. 2,185,785. The

application of said patent is based mainly on a manner or process of operating sedimentation apparatus. Several embodiments or forms of apparatusfor realizing the process or invention of said patent are shown therein as wellas in application therefor as originally filed. i

Onev typifying form of apparatus illustrated in said main patent application constitutes the Divided Vand this application July 22,

a constructional arrangement wherein a horizontal influent pipe section beneath the settlingA floor of the tank leads to and delivers into an annulate type of initial receiving chamber, pockbasis hereof. To that end there is selected and adopted as illustrative of the invention of which the present patent is directed and as the founda- Y tion for the present patent, that form or e'mbodiment of apparatus illustrated by Figs. 1 9, 20 and 21 of the main patent application. Said figures -have been duplicated or reproduced herein. The detailed description hereof is in subet, or cavity that is provided in the bottom structure of the tank about a lower portion of the pier or column and according to the arrangement shown. The iniluent receiving chamber or cavity is relatively large as `compared with the crosssectional flow area of the influent pipe section leading to and delivering thereinto whereby there is a slowing down of the flow velocity or lessening of the momentum thereof within and throughout the chamber and wherebythere is a.

relatively uniform upward delivery of liquid therefrom into the liquid-holding region within the tank.

The invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a stantial accordance with that found in lthe main patent application. There is also included herein an expanding statement or elucidation of certain advantages to be derived from or inherent to the apparatus shown by reproduced gures hereof.

The invention which is the basis of the present patent relates to sedimentation apparatus having acircularly-raked or round type of settling tank into the liquid-holding portion of which a body of liquid-solids mixture is held while'undergoing quiescent sedimentation.

The apparatus of the present invention embodies a suitable feeding means by which liquid 'is supplied to and delivered 'within the liquidholding section of the tank, and eilluent off'- take means by which supernatant liquid isreceived and passed from the upper interior portion vof the tank and a sediment-engaging or transfer means operable for moving material which has settled into the lower portion of the tank. Y

The apparatus has a stationary central supy porting structure or pier rising from the tank bottom. This pier is embodied so as to realize a novel arrangement with respect'to the rest of the stationary structure of the tank. In the apparatus or sedimentation'unit hereof there is also attained a novel arrangement, association and disposition of parts respecting the pier, the liquid supplying and distributing means, the supernatant liquid withdrawing or effluent discharge means, r and thev sedimenttransfer means.

A novel feature of the invention also relates to vertical sectional view of one form of apparatus embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a plan view ofthe apparatus of Fig. l. X

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken as on .the vertical plane indicated by lines '2l- 2l of Fig. 2 looking in the directirri'v of the arrows.

Fig. 4 .is a horizontal sectional view of the structural parts in the vicinity vof the lower' portion' of the pier that rises from the tank bottom; this vview is taken as indicated by the horizontal lines a--b, c-d, e-f, g-h, and lc-l,

and vby the conic section indicated by the inclined lines d-e and` f-g which are equally spaced from an axial center of the conic section, and all of which thus designatedy lines are included in andby the broken line 4-4 ofFlg. 1. Fig-5 is a sectional horizontal view taken in Fig. 1 along the line 5-5 below the section line In the figures hereof T designatesa' 'sedimentationta'nk or basin; SM designates sediment raking and collecting mechanism; FM designates feeding means by and according to which liquid supplied thereto-to wit, liquid-solids mixture to be subjected to sedimentation--is delivered to and distributed within the liquid-holding section of the tank or basin T; EL designates an eilluent overflow means by which supernatant liquid is withdrawn or passed-'las claried eilluent-from the upper surface section of the body of liquid undergoing sedimentation within the tank; and SD denotes the section by which the settled solids transferred thereto are discharged from the tank.

The sedimentation tank T is provided with a rotatable member or mechanism that derives support from the pier. In the construction shown the rotatable mechanism includes or provides certain members of the sludge-raking or collecting mechanism SM, of the liquid-solids feed or distributing mechanism FM, and of the eilluent withdrawal means EL.

'I'he liquid to be subjected to sedimentation is supplied through a lower conduit section or bight portion 5i of an inverted siphon supply conduit that has an upstanding delivery leg portion or section 52 which is provided with an annularly shaped section in the lower portion, of a central pier 53. 'I'he central pier is stationary and extends upwardly from the initial portion of the floor or bottom portion of the tank structure. There extend upwardly from the annular portion or section 52 delivery pipes or branches 54 through and from which the incoming liquid passes into a stationary sealing member plate or ring 56, thence into a rotatable annularly shaped member 55 surrounding the pier 53. The

rotatable member 55 has a circularly or annularly shaped section open at dthe bottom thereof that is covered or in effect closed by an underlying cooperating member, to wit, the stationary sealing member or ring 56 previously referred to.

The stationary member 56 may be viewed as a flange' member having overlapping arrangement with the horizontally-turnable annular member 55 and is constructed so as to provide a stationary element of a sealing construction between the stationary branch pipes 54 on the one hand and the rotatable annularly shaped member 55 on the other hand. The annular member 55 constitutes a main ring or main body member of the composite rotatable member heretofore referred td, and thereto there 'are connected and therefrom lthere extend radial feed distributor pipes 51 having orifices or' oriflced portions I5. 'Ihese orifice portions are arranged for effecting relatively uniform discharge and distribution of the fed solid-liquid mixture per unit of settling area in the receiving zone therefor, and which zone is located in and extends transversely across-in fact, horizontally across-the lower sedimenting section of the sedimentation tank. These distributing pipes 51 serve, or may serve, as carrying arms for the sludge rakes or scraper's 20 whereby as the com- Dosite rotatable member turns there is eected a collecting of sedimented solids and the ultimate transfer of the same to and into sludge discharge section SD from which the thus col.

` lected solids are ultimately delivered through sludge discharge pipe 95 under controlled conditions to the exterior of the tank or sedimentation basin. At the upper portion of the rotatable member there are connected and carried radially and horizontally-extending eiiiuent receiving pipes or conduits 60 having effluent inflow openings 60a. .These pipes or conduits 60 function to 'receive efliuent-as clarified liquorand to conduct the eilluent received thereby radially inwardly and to ultimately deliver the thus convwar'dly through the lower central portion of the member 6| and the inner wall of the ring or section 53a-on the one hand and an outer portion of a smaller central upstanding projection 53e of the pier 53 on the other hand.

Therefrom it ultimately passes downwardly through branch conduits 63a leading to a lower central delivery conduit 63 that continues downpipes 51 which constitute carrying arms for the ducted eiiluent into a centrally located receiving 1 section provided by a rotatable hollow drum 6|. The stationary pier 53 carries or has an annular or ring section 53a having an annular bearing and sealing ring portion 53h upon and with whicha cooperative bearing and sealing ring portion Gla of the hollow drum seals and registers. 'I'he eiiluent passing into and from these effluent collecting pipes 60, is received in a space 62 between. the innerwall of the -drum or hollow rakes 20. A streamlining construction 64 is provided for the pipes 51 in order to prevent any undue agitation incident to the forward rotary movement thereof of the distributing and carrying arms. The streamlining construction 64 comprises not only the gradually increasing wedge shaped section shown but also a part or section that provides a rearward extension or cover 64a which is provided for additionally preventing a sudden or undue rise of the distributed solidliquid mixture immediately upon its delivery from vthe distributing pipe 51. The intake launder or pipe is also provided with a streamlining construction 65 that includes a forwardly extending or leading portion 66 which facilitates the collecting of the clarified eiuent, and the rearwardly extending, upwardly sloping portion 61 which avoids objectionable agitation and eddy currents in the wake of the forwardly travelling effluent collecting pipe.

According to the preferred arrangement as shown in Fig. 3, it is to be noted that the efliuent launder 60 in the point of travel slightly precedes the deposit of sedimented solids by the feed or distributing pipe or conduit 51, or from another point of view-the eluent launder falls nearly a full, but not quite a full, revolution behind the feed distributing pipe to which it corresponds, thereby avoiding any tendency of short-circuiting of unsedimented liquid upwardly into and through the effluent launder construction.

It will be noted from the foregoing that the feed distributing point is pointed backwardor, in other words, the feed or distribution of solidliquid mixture is rearwardly in respect to the rdirection of rotation for the feed pipe 51, while the effluent or take-off pipe points forward, viz., is positioned so that the section having the liquid receiving openings is foremost and moves forwardly into the quiescent liquid to be removed thereby. The delivery orifices or collecting openings in each of these ducts should be spaced in ,accordance with the available settling area.

The streamlining as applied to the feed distributing and eifluent collecting pipes, is arranged in a complementary manner in respect to each other and, by the mode of distribution herein described, a layer of fed solid-liquid mixture is laid asedio? trlmnion or bearing pin member 69 which in turn is carried on and by the central pier or column. The outer end of the arm embodies or is mounted on -a wheeled truck 90 that is driven by the motor and which is'supported on and is driven along a rail or track 9| that is provided at and along the top -of the upstanding peripheral wall of the tank. Any suitable driving connection may be provided as at 92 whereby as the outer end of saidarm or bridge 58 travels along a peripheral path as defined by the rail, there is imparted the requisite rotary movement to the composite rotary mechanism that includes the raking mechanism SM, the feed mechanism FM and the eilluent launder construction EL. The main bearing for this composite rotatable mechanism may be that provided at and by the members or sections designated 53h and Gla. Suitable bracing or truss elements for the main components of the rotatable mechanism are provided and certain of said members are indicated as by parts such as 93 and 94.

The rotatable launder has the beneficial adi vantage of progressively skimming the 'entire successive sections of the entire upper portion of the body of sedimenting liquid. It is feasible to provide the sedimentation basin with a rotating member having a single feed distributing arm and an associated single eiiiuent receiving or collecting arm. It is also feasible to have a. rotatable construction which will have a multiplicity of the feed distributing arms and a multiplicity of efiiuent receiving or collecting arms', and it will be noted that in the arrangement shown four sets of these arms have been employed.

From a functional aspect, it will be observed in the drawings hereof that the sediment raking or impelling mechanism derives support (through pivot 59) from the structure of the pier or column 53; that the tank bottomhas a settling floor area on which sediment deposits and over which the sediment rakes 20 operate to impel the sediment Vto the sludgeor sediment-'sump SD that is as. sociated with the tank floor; that the influent pipe 5I that is disposed substantially horizontally has a section thereof lying beneath or below the tank floor and delivers or feeds incomihg liquid into space 52 that is substantially vertically disposed and constitutes an initial feed liquid receiving chamber, space'or cavity that extends into the tank bottom and which is of an area that is obviously larger than the cross sectional area of the feed pipe 5I for the purpose of stilling somewhat the momentum of the liquid entering into ,that space `from the feed pipe; that the space 52 may be viewed as an expansion space that initially receives liquid from the feed pipe 5I; that .the pier structure has or embodies at the base or lower portion thereof a vertically-extending section 53l which is surrounded or encircled by the expansion chamber or initial feed-receiving space 52 and in this connection it will be noted that the vertically-extending section 53d of the pier is sometimes referred to as a lower centrally-located pier section because of its being located within the lower portion of the tank and because of its being encircled by the expansion chamber 52; that the receiving space 52 is primarily substantially annular in plan; that said space 52 may be viewed as provided by a deinner border defined by a centrally disposed struc# Cil tural part provided by the lower portion 53'l of the pier 53; (b) an outer border or upright marwith upilow openings 52 leading from the upper t portion of the expansion chamber 52. From the drawings it will also be noted that the feed supplying and distributing means as a whole also includes a stationary trough-shaped annular member which encircles or surrounds the pier structure 53; that the trough of'this annular member 56 is U-shaped in vertical cross-section; that this annular member 56 has or is provided with upiiow pipes-or branch conduits 54; that these upflow pipes or branch conduits 54 register with the openings/52 provided in the roof of the expansion chamber 52 whereby liquid from the expansion chamber is directed and passed into the trough-shaped member 56 from which -it is emitted into the horizontally-turnable annular member 55 for ultimate delivery and dispersion into -the region outside of the pier and particularly into the body of liquid undergoing treatment2 within the tank. l

' 'I'he feed operation of -this apparatus is that the incoming liquid from the pipe 5I that lies below the sediment collecting oor of the tank feeds to the chamber 52 wherein the direction of the flow is changed tobe upward while its momentum is decreased because of the fact that the chamber 52 while being annulate in type is in effect an expansion zone. The liquid flows upwardly in encirclement of the pier structure and is conducted by the pipes or conduits 54 and stationary annular member56 to the horizontallyturnable feed distributing element 55 that surrounds the pier, and from which the feed is emitted for delivery to the liquidbody in the tank froma region outside of the pier. Thus the feed cornes in at the bottom of the tank in a manner that surrounds the pier and is emitted into the tank from outside of the pier.

As has already been pointedv out in respect to certain broad aspects `of the 'invention an important feature thereof revolves about the initial receiving chamber or cavity- (a) Which receives liquid solids mixture passed thereto and delivered thereinto by and from a low influent conduit section reaching below the settlingfloor of the tank bottom:

(b) Which is embodied or provided in the tank structure about or externally with respect to a low central portion of the pier or column;

I (c) Which has upwardly-extending flow passage area leading and opening therefrom and (d). Which has an annulate type of flow emitting' passage or terminal area from which the upilowing liquid passes on its way for ultimate distribution within the sedimentation tank. v

The important features of the broad aspect just referred to are concerned with the initial feed receiving pocket or cavity disposed, located and' embodied in the tank structure and particularly its disposition with respect to the tank bottom and the pier risingtherefrom and the having distributing arms or some other form of liquid distribution is employed.

It will be noted (a) that the lannulate initial receiving space or cavital pocket 52 is conjointly provided by the tank bottom and the pier rising therefrom and is symmetrically disposed about the low vertically-extending central section or portion 53d of thepier 53; (b) that the branch pipes 54 leading upwardly to the trough-shapbd annular member 56 are symmetrically disposed about the pier and complete upflow passageways that also include as part thereof the upfiow openings 52c in the ceiling structure of the initial receiving or expansion space 52; and (c) that the upflow conduits or passageways thus provided by the upflow openings 52c and the branch pipes 54 conduct the infiowing liquid upwardly from the initial liquid-receiving or expansion space 52 into the stationary trough-shaped annular member 56 from which it is guidedly delivered into the annular horizontally-turnable member 55 for ultimate distribution as through the apertured arms 51 leading therefrom and by which the incoming feed is submergedly delivered into the liquid-holding section of the tank.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for separating suspended solids from liquids comprising a tank providing therein a sedimentation compartment and having a sediment discharge leading from the lower portion thereof, a stationary feed portion, a stationary effluent withdrawal portion, and rotatable means operable within saidcompartment for mechanically impelling solids settled therein .to the sediment discharge; said 'apparatus having a deeply submergedfeed distribution pipe operatively associated with the stationary feed portion and also having a shallowly submerged effluent off-take pipe operatively associated with and leading to the stationary effluent withdrawal portion, which said pipes are connected to and are rotatable with the aforesaid rotatable means.

2. An apparatus as defined in and by claim 1, wherein the feed distribution pipe has discharge openings in the trailing portion thereof and the effluent take-off pipe has receiving openings in the leading portion thereof.

3. An apparatus as defined in and by claim l, wherein the feed distribution pipe and the effluent off-take pipe are vertically spaced one from another and are disposed so that each extends outwardly with respect to a vertically-extending axis about which it is rotatable, wherein the feed distributing pipe is provided with a forwardly disposed wedge-shaped section serving as a streamline portion, and wherein the effluent offtake pipe is provided with a rearwardly and upwardly-extending section serving as a streamline portion.

4. For use in a sedimentation basin, a combined liquid feeding and clarified eiiiuent discharging device comprising upper and lower pipes horizontally-turnable in paths about an upwardlyextending axis and extending outwardly with respect to said axis, means for rotating said pipes about said axis, and associated stationary means embodying an inflow section providing an influent duct and an outflow section providing an effluent duct; a lower one of said pipes being operatively associated with the influent duct of said inflow section and having normally submerged feed discharge openings disposed along the same for constituting a distribution feed pipe that functions within the sedimentation basin near the bottom thereof and an upper one of said pipes being operatively associated with the effluent duct of said outflow section and having intake openings therealong and constituting an eiliuent outow pipe for functioning in the upper portion of the basin for determining the operative level of the body of liquid within the basin; said lower pipe having a wedge-shaped member at the forward portion thereof and a plate extending rearwardly from the upper portion thereof; and said upper pipe having a plate extending forwardly from the lower portion thereof and with a' member extending upwardly and rearwardly from the lower portion thereof.

5. In a decanting settling unit adapted to contain a body of liquid, a tank having a bottom providing a settling floor, a marginal wall rising from said bottom, eilluent overflow means fixing the normal liquid level within the tank, a pier rising from the bottom of the tank, means for passing sedimented material from the floor to the exterior of the tank, an annulate initial receiving space conjointly provided by the tank bottom and pier rising therefrom and disposed about a-lower vertically-'extending portion of the pier, means for feeding liquid comprising a low pipe section extending inwardly beneath the oor and delivering into said annulate receiving space, a motor actuated feed distributing means that derives support from the pier and which includes a liquid distributing member turnable about the pier, and means for conducting liquid from the initial receiving space to the turnable distributing member.

6. A decanting unit comprising a sedimentation tank having a marginal wall, a bottom portion providing a settling iioor, effluent overflow means fixing the normal level of the liquid within the tank, a vertically-extending axial member centrally disposed with respect to the marginal wall, an annulate type of feed receiving and expansion chamber provided within the tank bottom about a lower section of said axial member,

a pipe whose cross-sectional flow area is small compared with the horizontal cross-sectional area of the expansion chamber and providing for delivering influent liquid into said chamber, a feed distributing element deriving support from said axial` member and horizontally-turnable thereabout means through which influent is passed from said expansion chamber into said feed distributing element, and means for imparting turning movement to the feed distributing element.

7. A decanting settling tank having a bottom portion providing a settling floor, a wall rising from the bottom and with the bottom defining the lower and marginal limits of a liquid-holding zone,` a pier rising from said bottom, an initial feed receiving and expansion space for the bottom about a lower section of the pier and provided by the bottom and the pier, means for feeding liquid to the, tankcomprising a low pipe extending inwardly below the floor of the tank, connected to said bottom and delivering directly into said feed expansion space, a feed distributing element deriving support from said pier, means associated with said expansion space and with said distributing element and providing upow passage area for conducting liquid from said feed expansion space upwardly to said feed distributing element preparatory to its ultimate passage therefrom into the liquid-holding zone, and means for expansion space being substantially larger than the ilow area of the low pipe.

a marginal wall rising from the bottom, conduit means for passing sedimented material from the lower interior portion ofthe tank to the exterior of the tank, a pier structure in the tank and rising from the bottom of the tank, a liquidreceiving and expansion space conjointly provided by the tank bottom and the pier whereby it is within said bottom and about a low section of the pier,. a. liquid-distributing member encircling the pier, a low feed pipe extending inwardly beneath the tank iioor, connectedv to the tank bottom and delivering into said expansion space, and means by which liquid received in the expansion space is upwardly directed therefrom into said quid-distributing member.

- wall rising from the bottom, eiiiuent overilow means fixing the rnormal liquid level within the tank, means for passing ,sedirnented material from the tank, a pier rising from the tank 4bottom and having a low section providing averticallyextending fa`ce` portion, an initial feed receiving space provided in the tank bottom and-deiined in partby an upstanding wall provided by a section of the tank bottom and in part by said face portion o! the pier, means for feeding liquid to the tank comprising a low pipe section extending inwardly beneath the tank iioor and delivering into sai'd feed receiving space, a mechanically-actuated -ieed distributing member turnable about the' 

